The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta to Kick Off a Southern Cooking Demo Series

So you have no idea what purloo or syllabub are, let alone how to prepare them, right? No worries, because The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta’s chef de cuisine Brian Jones is going to change that, starting tomorrow. That’s when the Atlanta hotel will launch the first in its series of Southern-inspired cooking demos that will include information on the origins of ingredients, flavor profiles and the resurgence of regional grains in local dishes.

The classes are demonstration style, which mean Jones will prepare and cook while you watch — and best of all eat — his final creations. Tomorrow’s three-course menu, “Lowcountry Deconstructed,” will include pâté of the South: pimento cheese three ways, cheese straws and pickled shrimp; Savannah-style purloo (it’s basically dirty rice), made with Carolina Gold rice and coastal seafood and plated with cracklin’ cornbread; and muscadine and port syllabub (a frothy cream dessert) served with benne seed cookies.

Each course will be paired with cocktails, and regional wines and beer selected by hotel sommelier Brian White and his guest, Brian “Spike” Buckowski, brewmaster and co-founder of Athens, Ga.-based Terrapin Beer Company.

Hungry for more? Jones will also host “Foraging through the Great Smoky Mountains” on Oct. 18 and “Holiday Dining at Chef Brian’s House” Nov. 15. Classes are $75 and limited to 16 guests.